Levi regarded me. “You’re a smart girl, Macy. Shooting someone in the middle of the club… not smart,” he said carefully.
“Guess not,” I agreed.
There was a pause.
“He killed my parents,” I said by way of explanation. “He deserved it.”
Levi nodded. This was of no surprise to him. He knew. That meant the club knew, and they welcomed him in. Laughed with him. With a murderer. My parents’ murderer.
“Club going to make me disappear now?” I asked, chewing over what my actions meant. I may not go to jail, but I’d just broken a pretty big fucking rule. Not only were women never meant to get involved in club business, but I was also pretty sure they weren’t meant to murder business associates in the middle of the clubhouse.
Levi’s frame jolted. “Make you disappear?” he repeated with disbelief.
I nodded. “You know,” I made my finger gun like Arianne had two nights previous. I put it to my own head.
Levi clutched the hand with the finger gun and squeezed it tightly. “Jesus girl,” he muttered. “Can’t say I know what’s gonna happen. Can imagine Grim’s not gonna be happy right now, but no one’s gonna hurt you. You’re family,” he said firmly.
I laughed bitterly and snatched my hand out of his grasp. Family—yeah, right. I didn’t have any of that. Family didn’t welcome murderers into the family home. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too,” I said flatly.
Levi’s face hardened and he looked like he was going to say something, but his head jerked to the doorway.
“No one’s gonna kill you, Mace. Can’t say I’m feeling warm fuzzies toward you at the moment, though. In fact, I’m very tempted to show you the back of my hand,” a hard voice declared.
Grim stepped into the room, his face tight. I met his eyes without fear. Most of my emotions seemed to have left the building.
“You wanna tell me what was going through your mind when you decided to walk into my club and shoot a man?” he asked quietly.
I shrugged. “I didn’t exactly go in there with that in mind,” I said honestly. “But when you walk into a place you consider home and see the man who shot your parents in the face and subsequently ruined your childhood. You feel like returning the favor,” I told him blandly.
He stared at me, something working behind his eyes. “You know club rules, Macy? Been around long enough to know them?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been around long enough to know them. Long enough to consider the club my everything. My family. I’m happy to respect those rules, backward and sexist as they are. I’m happy to accept the fact that in your world you haven’t quite caught on to the fact women have been enjoying equal rights for the past few decades…” I paused. “I don’t even care that the club is into some shady shit that comes with the life I’ve decided to live. I’m happy to overlook all of that, ‘cause what I get in return makes it worth it. Or it did…” I narrowed my eyes. “But you welcome a murderer, my parents’ murderer, knowingly welcome him into your lives? Makes me realize, I’ve never been part of your family. So how about you shove your rules right up the back of your bike’s exhaust,” I suggested with venom.
There was a heavy silence once I’d uttered my last word. Levi was regarding me with wide eyes. Hansen had entered the room when I wasn’t looking. His face was thunder, and he held himself tautly, eyes on Grim as if he was expecting him to do something. Like he was expecting to have to attack his president in defense of me.
Grim surprised the shit out of everyone in the room by grinning slightly.
“You’re lucky it’s only Levi and Hansen in here darlin’. Otherwise, I’d be obligated to treat that little performance, and the disrespect, a lot differently.” His words may have been easy, but I heard the veiled threat. “As it is, I know both these men care for you a great deal. One arguably more than the other, considering he’s claimed you.”
My eyes involuntarily locked with Hansen’s for a moment. It was coming back in, all of it, the feelings.
“So…” Grim continued, oblivious to the moment, “…I’ll be chalking that up to the fact that you’ve had a… trying day.” He stepped forward. “You’re lucky that it just so happens that that scumbag was on our shit list, on account of the fact he robbed someone in our family of their parents, among other things…” he paused. “If you don’t get the club in serious shit with your impulsive and reckless trigger finger, I’ll still consider you part of my family, provided you aren’t armed in the future,” he added. “That shit, you not doing that when the ATF of Feds aren’t parked outside our door. It’s just dumb luck.” He stepped forward. “You do something like that again, put the club in danger, I won’t be so forgiving,” he promised.
We held eye contact for a long time and I tried to let his words sink in.
Grim didn’t let me say anything, didn’t wait for a response. He turned to Levi. “Keep her here, till we can get this shit taken care of,” he ordered.
Levi nodded.
He gave me another look then left.
I stood there listening to the sound of a Harley roar off, feeling two sets of eyes on me. I didn’t think about that, though. The shock, the adrenaline, it was all wearing off. That wall that separated what I just done from the rest of me falling away.
I killed a man.
On that thought, I darted out of the room and into what I guessed correctly was the bathroom. I made it just in time to empty the meager contents of my stomach. I felt a presence behind me, felt his hands rubbing my back.
I failed to feel embarrassed over the fact he was watching me vomit. He’d just saw me blow a man’s head off, it was safe to say he was already disgusted with me. I’d blown myself firmly off that pedestal and into the gutter.